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Sepik River area, Papua New Guinea Ritual Carving Wood, pigment, incrustation Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection Indiana University Art Museum, 75.99.1 Though fieldwork continues today among the peoples of Africa and Oceania, some objects, such as this, are still poorly understood. Several possible reasons may explain our lack of information. Under Western influences, many peoples have given up traditional practices, and therefore interpretations of objects associated with them have disappeared with the deaths of the elderly. In some situations where people still follow traditional practices, some information is considered too esoteric to be shared with outsiders. Finally, among the hundreds of ethnic groups in each of these areas, many have yet to be studied. |